


so lucky you dropped in

by kageygirl



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 10:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13005378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kageygirl/pseuds/kageygirl
Summary: Harry would, if pressed, be forced to admit that it takes him a moment to process the apparition standing at his door this wintery eve.He's a lovely young man, even in a tracksuit and snapback cap, even rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and glancing away as he is.And his other hand is cradling a tiny pug puppy who's whining out a purring wuffle and squirming in righteous indignation against his durance vile.





	so lucky you dropped in

**Author's Note:**

> Not Brit-picked. Based on a list of [advent prompts](http://kageygirl.tumblr.com/post/168489102730/verobird-christmas-prompts-some-i-made-up-some):
> 
> 12\. We’re neighbors and I just got locked out of my apartment, I was baking cookies that will burn if I don’t get in there quick

"Uh, hey, look, I know this sounds mental, but -- can I use your balcony for a minute?"

Harry would, if pressed, be forced to admit that it takes him a moment to process the apparition standing at his door this wintery eve. 

He's a lovely young man, even in a tracksuit and snapback cap, even rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and glancing away as he is. His words had come out in a quick jumble, his question almost desultory, as if he expected to be turned away but felt compelled to ask anyway.

And his other hand is cradling a tiny pug puppy who's whining out a purring wuffle and squirming in righteous indignation against his durance vile.

In all, it's the most unexpectedly intriguing thing to happen to Harry in quite some time, and so he chooses curiosity over caution. "May I ask what for?"

The young man's head snaps up, his eyes meeting Harry's for the first time and widening as they do so. "Oh. I… oh." He then blinks twice, rapidly, and seems to give himself a little shake. "Sorry. I'm your neighbor?" He huffs to himself, and says, "I mean, I'm staying with your neighbor, and JB got out when I went to answer the door, and I locked myself out, and I'm baking biscuits for my sister and I need to get back inside before they burn."

There's a lot to decipher there, but a gust of wind sweeps up behind the young man, carrying a smattering of snow flurries. While the young man's only reaction is to shiver almost imperceptibly, Harry realizes that he's verging on rudeness, allowing this conversation to take place on his doorstep. "Please, come in."

"Yeah?" he says, seeming genuinely surprised, and steps inside quickly. "Cheers."

He favors Harry with a brief smile, and it lights up his face, turning his brooding good looks soft and warm in a way that's almost magnetic. Harry tamps down his answering smile through force of habit, but something must show through, because his visitor's cheeks go slightly pink. "You're the first one who didn't slam the door in my face," he says, and Harry's eyebrows shoot up.

"I find _that_ hard to believe."

The young man ducks his head, the cap hiding his face.

Instead of pressing the matter, Harry heads for the stairs. "This way," he says, and barely hears the young man's trainers on the carpet runner as he follows Harry up. Nimble, then.

They reach the balcony, and it's only as he's turning the handle to open the door that it occurs to Harry to ask, "What exactly are you planning to do?"

At that, the young man turns a cheeky grin on him, and throws in a wink for good measure. "Watch and learn, yeah?" He steps past Harry onto the balcony, holding out the puppy as he does so. "Hold JB for a bit?"

Harry takes the pug, trying to hide his amusement, but he's always had a soft spot for the bold and brash. In the manner of all small dogs who do not realize their diminutiveness, JB stares mutinously at Harry, though he's barely more than a handful of fur and rebellion.

The young man hops lightly onto the railing, apparently immune to the slipperiness brought on by the weather, and, crouching, reaches back for the pug. Harry watches him zip the puppy into his hoodie, making a small wriggly lump under the fabric. "It's just for a minute, JB, lay off," he mutters to said lump, and then he looks up at Harry. "Seriously, thank you."

"Think nothing of it," Harry says, and extends his hand to the young man. "Harry, by the way."

"Christ." The young man grimaces, and gives Harry a respectable handshake. "Sorry 'bout that, it's been a day. Eggsy." 

"Eggsy," Harry repeats, nodding, and gets an encore of that grin. "Well, I suppose you'd best get back to your baking."

" _Shit_ ," Eggsy hisses, and stands up, his trainers squeaking on the wet railing as he turns. With little apparent regard for gravity, he moves from railing to ledge to drainpipe to windowsill, ending at an ornamental half-balcony where the sash is open a crack. Halfway through the window, he looks back, as if he'd known Harry would be watching. "Be seeing you, Harry," he calls, fingers flicking in a little wave, before slipping inside.

Harry shakes his head, though he couldn't say whether at Eggsy or his own fanciful musings, and shuts the door against the cold.

* * *

The rapping sound is harsh, sharper than a knock at the heavy front door would be, and it takes Harry a few seconds to realize where it must be coming from. The balcony.

It's late, but the silhouette fidgeting against the curtains has the telltale bill of a snapback situated above its brow, and so Harry opens the door armed only with a mild expression. "Can I help you?" he asks, the very picture of nonchalance.

"Hi," Eggsy says, giving Harry a flash of that quicksilver grin. "So it turns out, there's such a thing as having too many biscuits in a house with a toddler."

"Oh?" Harry tucks one hand into his pocket, leaning his shoulder against the door frame.

"Yeah. And JB thought I should bring you some." Eggsy slips a small backpack off one shoulder, and pulls out a Ziploc bag of biscuits, covered in a riot of red and green sugar crystals.

"He did, did he?" Harry asks, dry as the desert, and Eggsy gives him a solemn nod.

"He did. He liked you."

An idea is starting to form, an inkling of the game that's being played out here. There's a flush to Eggsy's cheeks that might be attributable to more than just the nip in the air. Harry takes the biscuits, letting his fingers just brush against Eggsy's. "Well, he certainly played it close to the chest."

"He's been hurt before. Don't like to look vulnerable." Eggsy shrugs, almost careless, but there's something shy as he drops his eyes to his backpack again. "Now, me, I thought you might like this better."

He draws out a small bottle of Scotch, mid-range but drinkable, particularly in the right company.

"That's really not necessary," Harry says softly, manners making him loath to accept a second gift when he hasn't reciprocated the first. 

"No?" Eggsy gives him a considering look, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and says, "Then if we drink it together, we should be even, yeah?"

Harry shakes his head even as he smiles. "I'm not sure that follows." As he shifts, the light from inside catches on the planes of Eggsy's face, limning his features in white gold. He really is ethereally lovely, and it occurs to Harry -- as he's been told before -- that though being difficult for the sake of being difficult may be fun, it might also be getting in the way of something he actually wants more. "But -- I'm willing to hear your argument," he says, and the sudden light in Eggsy's eyes banishes all thoughts of winter's chill.

"So invite me in already," Eggsy says, with a promise of heat in his voice, and Harry doesn't hesitate to do so.

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on [tumblr](http://kageygirl.tumblr.com/)


End file.
